Real Salt Lake vs Minnesota United: Preview and Predictions

Neither Real Salt Lake nor Minnesota United have been playing defense at all over the last couple of weeks.

It will be very interesting to see which of the two sides will find the way to end their negative runs this Saturday when they meet each other in the 15th round of MLS at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Real Salt Lake

Mike Petke took charge of Cobalt and Claret in March, but he might not stay at Rio Tinto for long if Real don’t provide a serious turnaround in form.

The team conceded as many as 15 goals in last three matches. Their fans hoped to see much better defensive display after the international break, but the mid-week’s action has seen a catastrophic 4-1 loss to Sacramento Republic in the first round of the US Open Cup.

On the bright side, Petke’s men are somewhat better on the home pitch where they celebrated back-to-back wins over New York City and Philadelphia Union.

Minnesota United

The league’s newcomers still have hard time adjusting to the new competition. Minnesota United just don’t seem to have the defense capable of staying competitive in MLS, especially when the team plays away from home.

Adrian Heath’s side lost six and drew two of their eight matches on the road in this term of MLS conceding at least two goals in each of the fixtures along the way.

Real Salt Lake vs Minnesota United: Head to head

Interestingly, Minnesota won both head to head meetings with Real Salt Lake.

The two sides have already played each other in this term of MLS as Minnesota’s star man Christian Ramirez (has eight goals to his name so far in the season) bagged a brace in a 4-2 win for Heath’s men at TCF Bank Stadium.

Real Salt Lake vs Minnesota United: Prediction

We just can’t see how this could turn out to be a low scoring affair. The bookmakers are quite generous offering the 10/11 odds on BTTS & Over 2.5 goals FT which is something we’ll take with both hands at maximum stakes.

Alternatively, the value has to be with the hosts who have two wins in a row in front of their fans, while Minnesota are just desperate on the road.